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Prophet of Truth
The High Prophet of Truth, born Ord Casto and formerly serving as Minister of Fortitude, was one of three Hierarchs that led the High Council of the Covenant. He oversaw the war against the humans and orchestrated the events that led to the Great Schism and downfall of the Covenant. Biography 'Minister of Fortitude' Ord Casto was born in March 15, 2396 in the holy city High Charity. He started his career in politics as a junior staffer in the Ministry of Concert which deals with the affairs of lower caste species. It would be his responsibility to ensure the Covenant remained unified and balanced. This balance was thrown off when Unggoy populations boomed and forced Kig-Yar nests to be moved to accomadate for more space. Ord Casto was responsible for unearthing a conspiracy to poison Unggoy infusion resources; infusion being the recreational narcotics used by the Unggoy. The Minister of Concert fined the Kig-Yar for this act, but Ord Casto filed a complaint that this punishment was not harsh enough. Indeed he was correct for in 2462, the Unggoy Rebellion began. The Unggoy launched vitriolic attacks all across High Charity. Rewarded for his foresight, Ord Casto was promoted to the Minister of Fortitude. This ministry was responsible for the balanced distribution of Forerunner relics to the rest of the Covenant. The nature of his work meant that he'd have a target on his back because relics equated to wealth and power, and power meant better living conditions for client speices and wider influence for politicians. 'Rise to Hierarch' On January 18, 2525, Fortitude found himself involved in a conspiracy when the Vice Minister of Tranquility informed him of the massive trove of "Forerunner artifacts" (which was actually the human population of Harvest) that a Luminary had discovered on that planet. Tranquility had planned to use this event to usurp the current High Prophets. Fortitude was convinced to join in the coup when Tranquility pointed out that it was through their hard work that the tensions between species were reduced. If Ord Casto became a Hierarch then none would have the power to alter his decisions in distributing relics and maintaining peace in the Covenant. The Minister of Fortitude and Tranquility met with the Philologist to discuss the findings of the Luminary with the Dreadnought's Oracle. The Oracle, once awakened from his dormancy, revealed that the Luminary had not detected "Reclamations" but had instead identified "Reclaimers." The Philologist disconnected the Oracle from the vessel before it could launch an escape from High Charity. When Fortitude realized the implications of what the Oracle had told them, he and the other two Hierarchs-to-be agreed not to tell the masses of their discovery, and decided that the humans must be eradicated once and for all before any in the Covenant could learn the truth. The three Prophets successfully implemented their plan and became the new rulers of the Covenant. This heralded the beginning of the Ninth Age of Reclamation. Fortitude chose the name "Truth" as a reminder to himself of the truths he must never tell, and the lies he would have to spin to prevent the Covenant from fragmenting. 'Crisis of the Rubble' The war continued on longer than expected and the Prophet of Truth was desperate to find the silver bullet that would end the humans. He was approached by the Kig-Yar Reth who brought him information on a human settlement in the 23 Libre System. These humans offered to trade, and Truth hoped this trading would provide him with information on more human worlds. He allowed Reth to trade modified weapons with trackers to the humans. In 2535, the Prophet of Regret discovered the modified weapons and had them traced to the same human settlement. Thel 'Vadamee was sent to punish those who tampered with and gave away the weapons. The Sangheili encountered Reth who claimed to be doing the bidding of the Hierarchs. In the aftermath of the battle that ensued, the humans escaped with all information regarding the location of their colonies gone and the armies of Unggoy on Metisetti were destroyed. Truth called the aftermath "a mess" and was going to have those involved killed, until Thel 'Vadamee saved him from a disgruntled elite. Thel was allowed to live on the condition that he never speaks of these events. 'Climax of the Great War' In the aftermath of Battle of the Rubble, the Prophet of Truth commissioned Thel ‘Vadamee to serve in the new Fleet of Particular Justice. This new fleet would burn a path into the human colonies until drawing nearer to the penultimate battle at Reach. The strong resistance at Reach had led the Hierarchs to believe that this was the human’s home world. Victory would not come without a steep price though since a month later, news of the discovery and destruction of a Halo ring would reach High Charity. The Hierarchs were both astonished at the discovery of the first ringworld to be found, and mortified that it was destroyed at the hands of a single human. Supreme Commander Thel ‘Vadamee was shamed before all of the Covenant and sentence to death. This sentence would be delayed however, as the Hierarchs needed his skills in the final months of the war, but now as the Arbiter. Sometime after the destruction of Installation 04, Truth learned the location of Earth. It was with this discovery that he would put in motion his plans to replace the Sangheili with the more obedient Jiralhanae as the main warrior race. The dismantling of the Sangheili-controlled Fleet of Particular Justice allowed Truth to establish an even larger Jiralhanae-controlled fleet in the Tau Ceti System. He secretly assembled a fleet of over five hundred warships to a command-and-control station called Unyielding Hierophant. However, the fleet was destroyed by the Master Chief and his motley crew. Truth was forced to suppress the news of this setback to prevent the rest of the Covenant from learning his intentions behind this gathering. 'The Heretics and the Arbiter' In the wake of two great losses, there was another one taking root that threatened the instability of the Covenant. The Prophet of Truth had long relied on Thel 'Vadamee to lead his star fleet, and surmised that the disgraced Sangheili could still be of use to him despite being on death row. He convinced the High Council to let him use 'Vadamee as the new Arbiter. Arbiters are disgraced warriors that have been given a second chance to die with honor, and so the council would have their corpse in due time. The Arbiter was needed to quell a heretic rebellion forming in the gas mines of Threshold. Despite strong resistance and an unexpected appearance of the Flood, the Arbiter was able to succeed and survive his first mission. 'Changing of the Guards' On October 20, 2552, the Prophet of Regret launched a preemptive strike on Earth, initially unaware of the human presence in the area. His task force was searching for the portal generator that would lead him to the Ark. The UNSC, with the Master Chief at point, managed to force the Hierarch to retreat to Installation 05. Immediately after, reinforcements arrived at Earth with orders to uncover the portal generator and eliminate the Sangheili warriors. Truth moved High Charity to Installation 05; but when he arrived, he learned a human ship had followed Regret with the Master Chief - the demon - on board and pursuing the Hierarch. Truth pulled back his reinforcements and allowed the Prophet of Regret to be assassinated by the demon. He blamed the assassination on the elites and went forward with plans to replace the Sangheili with Jiralhanae as the new Honor Guardsmen. Personality 'What's Best for the Covenant' The Prophet of Truth, as he is at the time of his death, can be easily written off as tyrannical, cold, and hell-bent on transcendence. While there is truth to this, the High Prophet has several layers to his personality that might hint at him as more of a tragic hero. His time as Minister of Fortitude and even before that revealed that it was in Ord Casto's line of work to ensure the peace and stability of the Covenant. He was convinced that it was his work that kept the Covenant afloat, and not that of the Hierarchs of his time. This idea could be the groundwork for his savior complex; that he would be the sole protector of lasting peace and prosperity in the Covenant. The Vice Minister of Tranquility - future Prophet of Regret - came to Ord Casto with an ambitious plan to usurp the current Hierachs. He wasn't so much motivated at the thought of power as Regret was, but at the thought of being able to "best benefit the Covenant...and none would have the power to alter his decisions." He was close to becoming the hero that would save the Covenant, but then came the career-changing revelation that would threaten to tear everything apart. In his rise to power, he was confronted with the truth that humanity had been chosen to reclaim all that the Forerunners left behind; furthermore, that these humans might even replace the Prophets as leaders of the Covenant. He and his fellow Hierarchs decided to keep this secret from all others in fear that it would lead to the collapse of their religion and alliance with the other species. Ord Casto chose the name "Truth" as a reminder of the truths he must never tell to ensure the survival of the Covenant. This revelation would put a heavy burden on his shoulders, coupled with the responsibilities of leading of the Covenant in a new war with the humans. 'War that Never Ends' The Prophet of Truth didn't plan on fighting a long war. He was desperate to end humanity before anyone could question the decision to not allow their induction into the Covenant. In 2531, the Prophet of Regret gained access to a weapons cache located in Shield 0459. It would have provided him a fleet that could crush all human resistance, but the entire Forerunner installation was destroyed because of a single human warship. This wouldn't be the last time Regret's haste actions would interfere with Truth's grand designs for the Covenant. Three years later, Regret's actions would lead to the undoing of Truth's secret operations in the 23 Libre System. Trivia *Inspiration for this article came from a blog post that can be seen here. Category:San'Shyuum Individuals Category:Covenant Leadership